“My older sister introduced me to methadone when I was 13, and when my dad passed away, the drug use increased. When I was 16, I got my own apartment, and people were in and out all the time; there were no rules. That’s when I started using meth. As a senior in high school, I caught charges for credit card fraud, identity theft, and stealing from the gas station where I worked. I was convicted and received five years felony probation. That was in May. By June I was shooting up meth, cocaine, heroin, and anything else that a person could shoot up. My whole life was going downhill, and I lost my apartment. A drug dealer I hung out with introduced me to BackPage. You can find houses and cars and things like that on it like you can on Craigslist, but it's also used by prostitutes, pimps, and sex traffickers. The drug dealer and I got rooms in motels, and I put up an ad on BackPage for escort services. I did ‘in calls’ where the person would come to me and ‘out calls’ where I would go to them. One time when I was on an out call, I let the guy fix my shot (my dosage of drugs), and things happened that I had not signed up for. I used drugs intravenously for 5 years and prostituted for 4. “Since I was still on felony probation, I was supposed to report to my probation officer once a month, but there were a lot of gaps in there when I didn’t report for a long time and I’d have to go to jail for a few weeks. Sometimes, to avoid jail, I’d check into rehab, but I didn’t stop using. Then in February I overdosed and was really, really sick. When I checked into rehab that time, I knew I had to make some major changes. If I continued the way I was going, I was going to die. I knew I had to stay in rehab. If I went out again, I would use. That’s why I was never able to be a drug dealer. I wouldn’t have made any money; I would have done the drugs myself. So I stayed, and that place saved my life. I couldn’t have left anyway. I didn’t have anywhere to go---not anywhere good. After 5 weeks in rehab, the case manager looked for a place for me and found a community living program in Memphis. “I don’t want to set my goals too high right now---I have to finish this program first---but one day I’d like to work with children as a social worker or as a drug counselor. My brother’s friend’s daughter was really bad into drugs. I talked to her about the rehab I went through, and now she’s turned her life around, so I feel like I’ve already made a difference with somebody. I think because of what I’ve been through, I can help other people in the same situation. I want to show kids and teenagers that there’s a different way, that there’s a way out. I want to give back. “I don’t think God created me to die a junkie.”

P.S. from Connecting Memphis: I have it on good authority that Lindsey has a beautiful singing voice :-)

"My mom left all three of us children with her sister when she decided to come from Honduras to the United States in search of a good job. That was in 1994. When she sent for us six years later, I was already 14 years old. We had missed all that time with her, so we didn't feel like we knew her anymore and she didn't really know us. Plus, by then she had a new family with four little kids, so things didn't work out well for the three of us older ones to live with her. She had never raised teenagers before and didn't know how to deal with two sets of kids, so I moved in with an American family. For a long time, my mom and I barely spoke to each other, but things are better now. My aunt eventually moved to the States too. I'm actually closer to her because I was with her longer. I feel like I have two moms.

"I think living with the American family is how my English improved so rapidly. I'm glad I can speak two languages because I can help people who don't know much English, especially those in the older generation. My 4-year-old and my 9-year-old are both bilingual too. I teach them, 'You speak English to people who speak English and Spanish to people who speak Spanish.' I don't want them to lose that. I want them to be able to talk to their grandparents."

Glenda is a student at DeNeuville Learning Center, 190 S. Cooper. DeNeuville's stated mission is to "empower women to improve their lives through education and community." Glenda is currently working on her GED. Eventually, she would like to work with people who have asthma (since her own children have asthma). She's also interested in learning how to prepare taxes.

“Though I don't attend synagogue even on the high holy days, I'm still connected to my faith and heritage through my grandmother. She was able to escape the Holocaust by emigrating from Poland to what is now the State of Israel. She's a remarkable woman, and I'm so lucky to have her in my life.

"I would never abandon my faith, and I think that’s because of the values and traditions that my grandmother has passed on to me. She has me over for Sabbath Friday night dinners, and I'm usually the one who reads the blessing prayers in Hebrew. Our relationship is very special because we share Jewish traditions. She reminds me of who I am and where I came from.”

"I didn't really have a childhood the way most people have a childhood. I was emancipated when I was sixteen, so much of my life was about teaching myself. But I have access to a lot of people. I learn something from everybody I meet, and I try to give back. Everybody has something to share or teach."

"This is a challenging time for me. I have a lot of good things going on, but there are some bad things too. I don't have custody of my 2-year-old son, I live in a rough neighborhood, I don't have a stable income, I barely get sleep at night due to stress and depression, and I don't have a support system. It's just me and my belief in God. But I'm almost done with my GED, and the next step is an electrical apprenticeship program where I plan to become a journeyman electrician. My life is going to change. My income will be better, and eventually I will live in a safer place. When I get my child back, he won't have to live in poverty. We'll have benefits from my work, and my son will go to a good school. When he's older, he won't have to struggle or beg for money. He'll have what he needs."

"I was born and raised in Orange Mound. Every Saturday when I was growing up, my friends and I would take our quarters and go around the corner to the movie theater to see films like the Lone Ranger or Elvis Presley movies. We'd stay all day until our mothers came to drag us home. It was a safe community, everyone knew everybody, and we had everything we needed. Time passed and we grew up, went away to college, and did our lives. We just took it for granted that that way of life would always exist, but when we went back years later, everything had changed.

"My dream is to bring the community back to what it once was, and that dream has been the beginning of the Orange Mound Revitalization Council. Rebuilding our community is important to me and to the people who live there."

"My mom hates my piercings and tattoos, but I think they're decorative and aesthetically cool. The only problem I've had with them was in massage school. My instructor didn't like me much when we were learning how to massage faces and scalps because no one could practice on me, but she got over it eventually."

Elise's body art was done by Sarah at Underground Art, located at 2287 Young Avenue in Midtown.

“The first time I went to tutor in Binghampton, a little kid maybe 5 years old walked up to me and asked: ‘White girl, what you doing here?’ I admit I was really self-conscious about my skin color in the beginning, but I kept going back, and after a while the color difference didn’t matter. The kids learned my name and learned that they could trust and confide in me. One thing I’ve discovered in my work there is how important it is to be a constant and loving presence in the kids’ lives, to go to their ball games, to go shopping with them, and to express an interest in what they care about. Being constant is the biggest thing that separates someone who is genuine from someone who just wants to be seen as a good person. You can’t be there just for yourself and be a genuine person. You truly have to care about people. The relationships I’ve formed in just these past two years have grown my heart, and life is so much richer now. “Being a constant, loving presence is important both on and off campus. I’ve seen people who are ignored because of their nationality, their appearance, or because they are different somehow. Even if they aren’t overtly mistreated, they’re ‘othered’ into a category and dismissed. But God has a heart for all the nations. He calls us to help, to be generous, to love. That means sitting with people, sharing meals together, asking questions, and forming friendships, not just giving them something. God accepts and loves me, and he calls me to do the same for other people. That is why I am choosing to do work in Cambodia this summer and that is why I am choosing to live in Binghampton next year---to share God's love with those who are often excluded."

"I love people, especially people who are passionate about music, culture, and social justice. I live here now, but I'm a transplant. I wish I could claim that I'm a native Memphian; I think that's a phenomenal thing to be."